Canberra Cycling Corner

It has been another solid week of news about Canberra riders amongst the world best in a week that has been dominated by news about Andy Schleck withdrawing from the Tour de France and then the US Anti-Doping Agency charging Lance Armstrong with doping.

But let's start off the Canberra Cycling Corner with positive news about our own Gracie Elvin.

Gracie Elvin - Joins Italian Team

After a successful Emakuneen Euskal Bira in the Basque country, Spain, where Gracie finished in 33th spot in the General Classification, we welcomed the news that she joined Italian team Faren Honda Team for the rest of the European Season.  The first ride for Elvin for her new team was the Giro del Trentino that commenced on the 16 June. What do we know about Faren Honda Team.

Faren Honda Team: Faren Honda is an Italian cycling team based in the Italian region of Lombardy.  Its main sponsor is Faren Chemical Industries SpA, a company specializing in the field of chemical transformation. The team uses Italian made Kuota bikes.

The top riders of the team include current Olympic champion Nicole Cooke, Commonwealth Games Gold medallist Rochelle Gilmore and 5 times Giro d'Italia winner Fabiana Luperini.  The recruitment of Gracie has added to the strong Australian contingent at the team.  In addition to Gilmore and Elvin, the team also includes Canberra's Miffy Galloway.

Michael Rogers - Tour de France must be assured with podium finish at the Dauphine?

Michael Rogers secured second place to make it a 1-2 for Team Sky at the Dauphine.  Rogers ability to help Wiggins to win back to back titles must guarantee Rogers position in the team's Tour de France squad.  Still waiting on the British Team to publish their squad for the Race.

Two solid race performances by Rogers has seen him climb up the IG Markets Pro Cycling Index with a bullet. He moved up from 50th place to 29th place. This may change once the index is updated for the Tour of Switzerland results.





Congratulations to Sue Powell - Olympic selection

On Tuesday, Sue Powell received the news that she has been selection in the Australia Paralympic Cycling Team.  Sue is currently racing in Europe, but will return to Canberra shortly.  Powell will compete in multiple disciplines across track and road cycling during the Paralympics.

http://www.canberratimes.com.au/sport/canberran-powell-on-amazing-journey-20120612-2086s.html


WHERE ARE CANBERRA RIDERS RACING THIS WEEK?

Chloe Hosking (Team Specialized-Lululemon) - Hosking returned to racing in Europe after a short sojourn in Canberra.  Hosking is participating in the Giro Del Trentino. Chloe finished 20th after the first stage. Two more stages remain.

Gracie Elvin (Faren Honda Team) - Gracie is participating in her first race (Giro Del Trentino) with her new team Faren Honda. Gracie finished 68th after the first stage, 5.44 minutes behind the stage winner.  Unfortunately, team mates Rochelle Gilmore abandoned the race.

Fabio Calaria (Team Type 1 SANOFI) - No success for Fabio at the Tour de Beauce.  After 4 stages, Fabio is sitting in 38th spot.

Rory Sutherland (Unitedhealthcare Pro Cycling Team) - Rory continues to lead the Tour de Beauce after five stages of the race. A second place in the ITT (Stage 4) put Rory into first place of the Tour.  One Stage remains.

Matt Hayman (TeamSky) - After 8 stages, Hayman is sitting in 70th spot, some 34 minutes from the leader Da Costa (Movistar). Getting into a couple of breakaways has meant that Hayman has been able to accumulate some points for the mountain classification.  Hayman is sitting in 19th spot. 

Nathan Haas (Garmin-Barracuda) - Haas is currently racing the Ster ZLM Toer, a four stage race in Netherlands that is designed for the sprinters. Haas is currently sitting in 56th spot and 3.51minutes away from leader Mark Cavendish with one stage to go. Haas got into a four man breakaway on Stage 2 and managed to accumulate some mountain points.  He is currently in eighth spot for the mountain classification jersey. 


LOCAL RACING FOR CANBERRA RIDERS

A number of riders and the Suzuki-Trek Team are racing in the FKG Tour of Toowoomba.  Toowoomba has not been a successful hunting ground in 2012 for Canberra riders.  The best place rider is Canberra based rider Joe Lewis (RBS Morgans-ATS Pro Cycling) who is sitting in 18th spot overall in the General Classification, but is leading the sprint classification.

Alastair Loutit (GPM Wilson Racing) 45th place in the GC and Mitch Flynn (Suzuki-Trek) 50th are honourable mentions. 

There is one stage remaining in the FKG Tour of Toowoomba before the riders head down to the Santos North Western Tour in NSW.  The tour starts on 21 June.

Yesterday was a Canberra Cycling Club's racing day with a handicap race around Lookout Hill. Similar to the last race day, wet, wintery and cloudy weather greater the riders.  I will update the link on the race results once CCC update their webpage. 

http://www.canberracyclingclub.org.au/events/details.asp?IntContId=1665&IntCatId=33